Fit for what?: towards explaining Battlegroup inaction

The thrust of this paper concerns the case of the European Battlegroup (BG) non-deployment in late 2008, when the United Nations requested European military support for the United Nations Organisation Mission peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The argument is built on the fact that when, in official documents, the EU approaches the European security and ESDP/CSDP's military crisis management policy and interventions, it makes strong references to the United Nations and the UN Charter Chapter VII's mandate of restoring international peace and security. Such references make it seem that supporting the UN when it deals with threats and crises is a primary concern of the EU and the member states. These allusions lead to the main contention of this paper, that there is much ambivalence in these indications. The paper develops its argument from one key hypothesis; namely, that the non-deployment of a European BG in the DRC, at the end of 2008, constitutes a useful case study for detecting a number of ambiguities of the EU in respect of its declarations in the official documents establishing the European military crisis management intervention structure

Identification of risk factors of severe hypersensitivity reactions in general anaesthesia

Background: Hypersensitivity reactions to anaesthetic agents are rare but often severe, with a mortality ranging from 4 to 9% in IgE-mediated events. Identification of the risk factors may contribute to limit the incidence of these reactions. The aim of our study was to search for possible risk factors of severe perioperative hypersensitivity reactions in our study population. Methods: For this study we retrospectively reviewed data from 193 patients who experienced drug hypersensitivity reactions during general anaesthesia. The diagnostic protocol consisted of 1) history of the reaction, 2) measurement of serum baseline tryptase and specific IgE-assays for latex, beta-lactams and succinylcholine, 3) skin tests for the agents listed in the anaesthesia chart and for others likely to be safe for future use, latex, and others medications administered during the perioperative period (i.e. antibiotics), 4) subdivision of our patients on the basis of two criteria: a) grade of severity of clinical reactions according to the Ring and Messmer classification; b) results of skin tests and/or serum specific IgE-assays. Results: One hundred of 193 patients had reactions of grade I, 32/193 patients had reactions of grade II, 55/193 patients had reactions of grade III and 6/193 patients had reactions of grade IV. A diagnosis of IgE-mediated reaction was established in 55 cases (28.50%); the most common causes were neuromuscular blocking agents, followed by latex and beta-lactams. Severe reactions were associated with older age (p = 0.025), asthma (p = 0.042), history of hypertension (p = 0.001), intake of serum angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor medication (p = 0.012) or serum angiotensin II antagonist (p = 0.033), higher levels of basal tryptase (p = 0.0211). Cardiovascular symptoms (p = 0.006) and history of hypersensitivity to antibiotics (p = 0.029) were more frequently reported in IgE-mediated reactions. Conclusions: We confirmed the relevance of several clinical features as risk factors for anaphylactic reactions induced by anaesthetic agents: older age, asthma, hypertension and antihypertensive drugs. We observed increased levels of serum basal tryptase in severe reactions: this finding may signify that this biomarker is useful for the identification of patients at risk

Shifting Characterizations of the ‘Common People’ in Modern English Retranslations of Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War: A corpus-based analysis

Little research has yet explored the impact of (re)translation on narrative characterization, that is, on the process through which the various actors depicted in a narrative are attributed particular traits and qualities. Moreover, the few studies that have been published on this topic are either rather more anecdotal than systematic, or their focus is primarily on the losses in character information that inevitably occur when a narrative is retold for a new audience in a new linguistic context. They do not explore how the translator’s own background knowledge and ideological beliefs might affect the characterization process for readers of their target-language text. Consequently, this paper seeks to make two contributions to the field: first, it presents a corpus-based methodology developed as part of the Genealogies of Knowledge project for the comparative analysis of characterization patterns in multiple retranslations of a single source text. Such an approach is valuable, it is argued, because it can enhance our ability to engage in a more systematic manner with the accumulation of characterization cues spread throughout a narrative. Second, the paper seeks to move discussions of the effects of translation on narrative characterization away from a paradigm of loss, deficiency and failure, promoting instead a perspective which embraces the productive role translators often play in reconfiguring the countless narratives through which we come to know, imagine and make sense of the past, our present and futures. The potential of this methodology and theoretical standpoint is illustrated through a case study exploring changes in the characterization of ‘the common people’ in two English-language versions of classical Greek historian Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War, the first produced by Samuel Bloomfield in 1829 and the second by Steven Lattimore in 1998. Particular attention is paid to the referring expressions used by each translator—such as the multitude vs. the common people—as well as the specific attributes assigned to this narrative actor. In this way, the study attempts to gain deeper insight into the ways in which these translations reflect important shifts in attitudes within key political debates concerning the benefits and dangers of democracy

From papers records to computer DB, CAD and WEB solutions for the Documentation, Analysisand Fruition of Excavation Results at the site of Arslantepe (Turkey)

The MAIAO (Missione Archeologica Italiana in Anatolia Orientale) of the Sapienza University of Rome, the Land, Environment and Geo-Engineering Department of the Politecnico di Torino, and the Department of Structural Engineering, Section of Topography, of the University of Cagliari are involved in a research project, within the wider ARCHEOMEDSAT, coordinated by Prof. Manzoni of the University of Trieste, with the aim of defining the achitecture and components of a suitable information system for the acquisition, management and analysis of excavation data from the site of Arslantepe. Reference to a global datum as WGS84 for topographic data, Open Source management software and web accessibility are considered a prioriry for the fulfilement of such an aim

Late Chalcolithic - Early Bronze Age (5350 to 4000 years BP) carbon isotope record of plant macroremains from an Eastern Anatolian archaeological site

The archaeological site of Arslantepe (Malatya plain, Turkey), is a typical near eastern tell, formed by the superimposition of many anthropic levels, and it is one of the sites with greatest importance in its region, due to the length of its pre and protohistoric occupation. It is approximately 30 metres high and 4.5 ha in dimension. It's occupation spans from the 5th millennium BC to the end of the Neo-Hittite period (8th cent. BC). Its history fully exemplifies the transformations of society in the region since prehistoric times and the site is an inextinguishable source of precious information. Research at the site, carried out by the Sapienza University since 1961, has always had a strong interdisciplinary character and large attention has been given to archaeobotanical studies. The archaeobotanical studies highlighted the presence of various botanical taxa preserved by charring, belonging to arboreal and crop species. At Arslantepe a number of important changes are found. It is not clear, however, if the important variations found in plants use by the successive settlers are due to cultural choices or to environmental changes. Independent information on environmental variation obtained using carbon stable isotope, will help classical archaeobotanical studies to discriminate cultural and environmental change and reciprocal influences. Analyses of selected fossil woods of deciduousQuercus (deciduous oak) and Juniperus (juniper) and of grains of Hordeum vulgare (barley) and Triticum dicoccon (emmer) from the archaeological site were carried out at IGG-CNR of Pisa. Fresh reference plant specimens (leaf and branches) of the same taxa have been sampled in the area of Arslantepe, dried at 45 °C and processed with the same method used for fossils to evaluate past climatic conditions in relation to present-day ones. A comparison between wood and seed trends of 13C/12C ratio could also provide information on crops irrigation

Vagus nerve stimulation in treatment-resistant bipolar depression

Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS) is a brain stimulation technique approved as augmentative treatment of drug-resistant depression (TRD). To date, however, the efficacy of VNS has been mostly investigated in unipolar depression and, only to a minor extent, in bipolar depression. However, given that VNS was first introduced in the treatment of refractory epilepsy due to its anticonvulsant properties, it would be of clinical interest to specifically assess the efficacy of this technique in patients with Bipolar Depression, and to evaluate not only its antidepressant effect but also its potential mood-stabilizing properties in the long-term. The present article provides a brief description of the technique and presents the preliminary results at 6 months of 4 patients with Bipolar Disorder and TRD treated with VNS therapy. In addition, hypotheses of potential mechanisms underpinning the efficacy of VNS in Bipolar Disorder are provided and discussed